Solem Quartet
Edmund Finnis’ Third Quartet Devotions was written for the Solem Quartet in 2022, and recorded on their second album Painted Light; Finnis’ musical language is soulful, delicate and sparing. His music seems to evoke silken textures and pastel shades – a description which could also be used to describe Debussy’s music. Debussy’s famous Quartet in G minor is a technicolour masterpiece, ranging from rich brooding tones to bright incandescent hues.
The Boulanger sisters, Nadia and Lili, were huge figures in the French musical landscape in the early 20th century and the influence of Debussy’s harmonic language is clear in their compositional writing. Lili’s life was cut tragically short at the age of 24, after which Nadia focused on a teaching career (later becoming one of the most influential musical pedagogues of the twentieth century). Neither sister wrote a work for string quartet, so members of the Solem Quartet have arranged their Three Pieces and Two Pieces respectively.
Nadia Boulanger, arr. Amy Tress: Three Pieces for cello and piano, arranged for string quartet |
Lili Boulanger, arr. William Newell: Deux morceaux, arranged for string quartet |
OR Henriëtte Bosmans: String Quartet (to replace Nadia and Lili Boulanger pieces) |
Edmund Finnis: String Quartet no. 3, Devotions |
Interval |
Claude Debussy: Quartet in G Minor, op. 10 |